Pass-through fishing rod

ABSTRACT

A pass-through fishing rod comprising a line support and retainers prevents a fishing line from contacting the inner surface of a rod or water adhering to the inner surface and enables the line to be drawn out and rolled up smoothly. The line support pitch of the line support supporting a fishing line is smaller than the retention pitch of the retainers for retaining the line support spaced from the inner surface of the rod.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pass-through fishing rod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a pass-through fishing rod, since a fishing line is passed through apath formed inside a rod so as to be drawn out from the rod or rolled upinto the rod together with fishing equipment combined with the line,resistance acts on the movement of the line due to the line's contactwith the surface of the wall of the path. In particular, if water iscollected in the path, the line contacts the water to increase thesliding resistance, thereby reducing the operability of the rod duringthe draw-out or roll-up of the fishing equipment.

In known fishing rods adapted to reduce such sliding resistance, aspiral line support is installed in a path inside the rod and the upwardfacing section of the inner surface of the support is used as a linesupport section. See, for example, Japanese patent JP-A-1-304836.

However, the above conventional structure using a spiral as a linesupport requires the support to be inserted into the internal path of arod, limiting the coil diameter, thereby preventing the introduction ofa large element wire diameter. It has thus been impossible to provide alarge space between the inner surface of a spiral and the inner surfaceof a rod.

Consequently, a line located between adjacent line support sections mayslag even though it is supported by the inner surface of a spiral, ormay approach the inner surface of a rod and contact water adheringthereto during line roll-up due to the curvature of the rod. Thisprevents a line from being drawn up quickly.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pass-through fishing rodthat minimizes a line's contact with water adhering to the inner surfaceof a rod to enable the line to be drawn out quickly.

SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A pass-through fishing rod is characterized in that a line supportcomprises a plurality of line support sections spaced along the shaftcenter of the rod for supporting a fishing line and that the linesupport pitch of the line support sections is smaller than the retentionpitch at which the line support sections are retained inside the rodwhile spaced from the inner surface of the rod.

By retaining a line support spaced from the inner surface of a rod, linesupport sections can be spaced from the inner surface of the rod, and afishing line supported by the line support sections can in turn bespaced from the inner surface of the rod.

This minimizes opportunities for a line to contact water adhering to theinner surface of a rod. Furthermore, since the line support pitch issmaller than the retention pitch, the space between a line locatedbetween adjacent line support sections and the inner surface of a rodcan be maintained, minimizing the amount of the line's sagging.

The present invention minimizes opportunities for a line located betweenadjacent line supports to contact water and reduces sliding resistanceduring line roll-up, employing the structure wherein the line supportpitch is smaller than the retention pitch.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized in thata line support comprises a plurality of line support sections spacedalong the shaft center of a rod for supporting a fishing line, and thata plurality of retainers for supporting the fishing line with the outersurface of the line support spaced from the inner surface of the rod arespaced along the shaft center of the rod. The line support pitch of theline support sections is smaller than the retention pitch of theretainers. The advantages and effects of this structure are as follows.

By retaining the line support spaced from the inner surface of the rod,the line support sections can be spaced from the inner surface of therod, and a fishing line supported by the line support sections can inturn be spaced from the inner surface of the rod.

This minimizes opportunities for a line to contact water adhering to theinner surface of the rod.

Furthermore, since the line support pitch is smaller than the retentionpitch, even the space between a line located between adjacent linesupport sections and the inner surface of the rod can be maintained withthe amount of the line's sagging minimized.

With the above advantages, this embodiment of the invention minimizesopportunities for line located between adjacent line supports to contactwater and reduces sliding resistance during line roll-up, employingimproved installation pitches for the line support sections and theretainer.

Another embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that alongitudinally long line support is located in the space in the rod andthat the line support comprises a plurality of line support sectionssupporting a fishing line and a connecting section connecting adjacentline supports together. A plurality of retainers that act on part of theline support sections to set a gap between the line support and theinner surface of the rod are provided, and the interval between adjacentretainers is larger than the interval between adjacent line supportsections located between the adjacent retainers. The advantages andeffects of this embodiment of the invention are as follows.

Since a plurality of retainers act on part of the line support sectionsto retain them, the line support is spaced further from the innersurface of the rod than a line supported by the line support sections.Since the interval between adjacent retainers is larger than theinterval between adjacent line support sections, the magnitude of thesagging of a line is smaller than the interval between adjacent linesupport sections, so that the line's contact with water adhering to theinner surface of the rod can be avoided, allowing the line to be drawnout smoothly.

A further embodiment of this invention is characterized in that theretainers are located in the large diameter section of the rod. Theadvantages and effects of this embodiment of the invention are asfollows.

By inserting the retainers into the large diameter side into whichfishing equipment can be inserted more easily, the space between theline support and the inner surface of the rod can be maintained, andsliding resistance on the line can be reduced, thereby allowing theinsertion of the retainers and the assembly of the rod to be carried outeasily.

Another embodiment of this invention is characterized in that theretainers are located in at least two positions including those in thelarge diameter section and the small diameter section. Furthermore,since the line support is supported in two or more sections, it can besupported over an appropriate span, and this embodiment of the inventioncan be used even for a tip rod structure of a relatively large diameterinto which the line support can be inserted easily either from the rearend or from the front end.

Another embodiment of this invention is characterized in that the linesupport is a spiral.

Since the line support is a spiral and the line support sections areformed as a continuous line of spiral, the plurality of line supportsections can be handled as a single unit and be supported easily by theretainers. The line support can also be inserted into the rod easilybecause the plurality of line support sections can be handled as asingle continuous unit.

Another embodiment of this invention is characterized in that the linesupport comprises a spiral and a thin cylinder externally fit to thespiral. The advantages and effects of this embodiment of the inventionare as follows.

Since the spiral is reinforced by the thin cylinder, it can be insertedinto a tip rod of a small diameter even when having a small diameter anda relatively low strength. The strength of the spiral which is low dueto its small diameter is enhanced by the cylinder of a thin structure toprevent a decrease in flexibility and an increase in weight.

Another embodiment of this invention is characterized in that the linesupport comprises ring-like line support sections and a connecting rodsection joining the line support sections together. The advantages andeffects of this embodiment of the invention are as follows.

Since the line support sections are like rings and independent of eachother but connected by the connecting rod section, they can be handledas a single unit when inserted into the rod. As a result, this inventionprovides good workability and allows the positioning of the line supportsections and the setting of the line support pitch to be arbitrarilyperformed.

Another embodiment of the invention is characterized in that alongitudinal through hole for allowing water to pass through is formedin the retainers.

That is, water entering the rod can be moved through the longitudinalthrough hole to the tip of the rod where it can be discharged so that itwill not be collected in the rod.

Another embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the frontend of said line support is supported by the inner surface of the rodwhile the rear end of the line support is supported by the retainers sothat the section behind the front end of the line support is spaced fromthe inner surface of the rod. The advantages and effects of thisembodiment of the invention are as follows.

The line's contact with the inner surface of the rod can be avoided byusing the inner surface of the rod as a retainer at the front end fromwhich retainers cannot be inserted easily while inserting retainers fromthe rear end of a relatively large diameter than the front end to spacethe line support from the inner surface of the rod.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription. It is to be understood, however, that the detaileddescription and specific examples, while indicating preferredembodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustrationand not limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope ofthe present invention may be made without departing from the spiritthereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be more readily understood by referring to theaccompanying drawings in which

FIG. 1 is a plan of a line support, retainers, and an internal bodybefore their insertion.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a line support andretainers before their insertion into a rod.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view of an internal bodyinstalled.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view of another embodimentstructure for the line support and the retainers shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the retainers.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional side view illustrating anotherembodiment structure corresponding to FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional side view illustrating anotherembodiment structure corresponding to FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional side view illustrating anotherembodiment structure corresponding to FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment structureof a line support.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment structureof a line support.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment structureof a line support.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment structureof a line support.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment structureof a line support.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment structureof a line support.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a line support and retainers integratedusing a connecting rod section.

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional side view of another embodimentstructure of a line support.

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional side view of another embodimentstructure of a line support.

FIG. 18 is a longitudinal sectional side view illustrating a spiralintegrated with a thermally contracting tube which replaces the linesupport in FIG. 2.

FIG. 19 is a longitudinal sectional side view illustrating a swelledsection of the inner surface of a rod for supporting a line support sothat the line support is spaced from the inner surface of a rod.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference now to FIG. 1, lure rod 10 comprises a first rod section12 located at the tip and a second rod section 14 located on the bottomend of the rod with the first and the second rod sections connected inparallel. The second rod section 14 has a line introduction hole 16 forinserting a line from a reel 18 into a wide section formed as a lineintroduction section 20 in the front end section and also has a reelseat 22 and a grip 24 behind the line introduction hole. The second rodsection 12 comprises an internal path 26 leading from the lineintroduction hole 16 to a tip opening 28. An internal body 30 forming aline insertion and passage path 32 can be inserted from a rear endopening 34 in the first rod section 12.

The line introduction section 20 can be connected to or disconnectedfrom the rear end of the first rod section 12 in parallel, and is formedto have a large width. The line introduction hole 16 that islongitudinally long is formed in the longitudinal center of the lineintroduction section 20, an internal space is formed inside the lineintroduction section 20, and a path leading to the internal path 26 isformed in a position in front of the line introduction hole 16. The rearend of this path enters the internal space from the front end of theline introduction hole 16 and can be seen externally from the lineintroduction hole 16. The internal space formed between the rear end ofthe space 26 and the line introduction hole 16 is used as acommunication space 36 for guiding to the rear end of the space 26 (theinternal space for inserting and passing a line) a line introduced fromthe line introduction hole 16.

An internal-external through hole 38 is formed on the lower surface ofthe line introduction section 20 and located symmetrically 180° from tothe line introduction hole 16. It is shaped like a longitudinally longhole and has shorter longitudinal length and width than the lineintroduction hole 16. Dirt entering the line insertion and passage path32 adheres to a line and is then moved to the communication space 36,where it falls and is then discharged through the internal-externalthrough hole 38. As a result, dirt adhering to a line rolled up by thereel 18 can be reduced.

FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 show that the internal body 30 is installed in therear half section of the first rod section 12 and has the followingconfiguration. A plurality of units each of which comprises acylindrical section 40 where the line support 42 is installed, and aconnecting rod section 44 extending rearwardly from the cylindricalsection 40 like a cantilever, are bonded and connected together so as tohave a length equivalent to a single fishing rod. The cylindricalsection 40 has formed in its center a through hole 46 into which theline support is inserted and loaded, with the connecting rod section 44extending from a position above the shaft center of the through hole 46.This positioning of the connecting rod section 44 allows water enteringthe rod to flow unaffected by the connecting rod section 44. In additionto this configuration, the formation of the longitudinal through hole 48in the cylindrical section 40 allows water entering the rod to be guidedto the internal-external through hole 38 for draining, where the wateris discharged. The connecting rod section 44 is formed by removing mostof the corresponding wall of the cylindrical section 40 and assumes anapproximate crescent cross section. The internal body 30 generallycomprises thermoplastic resin without reinforced fibers but may alsocomprise rubber. In this embodiment, it is formed of a material moreflexible than the rod 10. The thermoplastic resins useful in the presentinvention include polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, ABS, and mostpreferably is a material having high water repellency.

On the other hand, the line support 42 housed in the cylindrical section40 is formed like a ring by forming on the front surface of a block bodya small diameter hole 50 for inserting and passing a line andconstructing a tapered line guide surface 52 that gradually widensrearwardly from the opening of the small diameter hole 50, as shown inFIG. 2. The material for the line support 42 includes hard materialssuch as ceramics and cermets (sintering materials) but may be a flexiblematerial such as resin. The line support 42 is loaded into the throughhole 46 of the cylindrical section 40, and the rear end of theconnecting rod section 44 located in front of the cylindrical section 40is inserted into the through hole 46 to contact the line support 42 insuch a way that the line support 42 can be positioned appropriately. Theconnecting rod section 44 and the cylindrical section 40 are then bondedand fixed together, and the internal body is incorporated into the linesupport 42 while assembled. Once a plurality of units are connected toform the internal body 30, a line insertion and passage path 32 isformed from the small diameter hole for line insertion and passage 50through the line guide surface 52 and the shaft center position of theconnecting rod section 44. The connecting and fixation structure foreach unit may comprise various fixation structures using fitting orbolting.

FIG. 2 shows that the first rod section 12 has a top guide installed atits rear end and that the top end 54 has installed at its tip a ring forguiding a line, with drain holes 56 formed behind the ring 58.

The tip structure of the first rod section 12 is described. FIG. 2 showsthat the line support 42 and the retainers 60 for retaining the linesupport 42 are installed in front of the internal body 30. The linesupport 42 is a long spiral 62 along the shaft center of the rod, andthe lower inner surface of the spiral 62 is used as a line supportsection 50 for substantially supporting a line. This allows the linesupport sections 50 to be arranged at the pitch of the spiral 62.

On the other hand, a plurality of retainers 60 are constructed along theshaft center of the spiral 62 to retain the line support 42. Theretainer 60 is like a cylinder and retains the line support within itsthrough hole 64 located in its center. These retainers 60 are arrangedat a predetermined pitch 66 that is larger than the line support pitch68 of the line support 50. This allows the line support pitch 68 to besmall and prevents a line from falling from between adjacent linesupport sections 50 and contacting the inner surface of the rod orwater.

Another tip structure for the first rod section 12 is shown in FIG. 4.FIG. 4 shows that a line support 42 and a retainer 60 for retaining theline support 42 are installed in front of the above internal body 30.The line support 42 comprises a long spiral 62 along the shaft center ofthe rod and a thin cylinder 70 externally fit to the spiral 62 fortightening and retaining the spiral 62. The spiral 62 has a smallelement wire diameter and a relatively high flexibility, and the thincylinder 70 comprises a thermally contracting tube and is externally fitto the spiral 62 while adhering thereto. This enables the spiral 62 toconstantly maintain its shape despite its small diameter provided toimprove its flexibility in order to address the small diameter of thetip rod. The spiral 62 formed in this manner is a cylinder of aspecified outer diameter along its length. An opener 72 is attached tothe rear end of the thin cylinder 70, and a cylindrical retainer 60externally fit to the opener 72 for retaining the line support 42 isconstructed inside the first rod section 12. The front end of the linesupport 6 directly contacts the tapered inner surface of the first rodsection 12 and is retained therein. This construction serves to maintaina space between the section behind the front end of the line support 42and the inner circumferential surface of the first rod section 12.

The retainer 60 of the configuration according to this invention can beconfigured as follows. It may be like a simple cylinder as shown in FIG.5.

As shown in FIG. 6, a cylinder-like body may be used as a base, and twoengagement sections 74, may protrude from the outer circumferentialsurface of the body. An engagement groove for engaging the engagementsections 74 with the inner surface of the first rod section 12 isconstructed in the shaft center direction of the first rod section 12 sothat the retainer 60 can be moved in the shaft center direction of thefirst rod section 12 and that the outer ends of the engagement sections74 can be fit in a predetermined position to the bottom surface of theengagement groove to fix the retainer 60. However, this is not shown inthe drawings.

As shown in FIG. 7, one of the engagement sections 74 may be formed in adepressed section 76. The depressed section 76 thus forms a path formoving water.

As shown in FIG. 8, an insertion and passage hole 76 for inserting andpassing the line support 42 may be formed in the shaft center of theblock body, and a guidance inclined surface 78 may be constructed in oneof the openings of the insertion and passage hole 80. The line support60 of the configuration according to this invention may be configured asfollows. The line support section 82 may be configured as follows.

As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of ring-like line support sections 82may be arranged and connected by the connecting rod section 84 as asingle unit. The reference numeral 62 in the figure designates a linesupport 42 constituted by configuring the line support sections 82 as asingle unit using a connecting rod section 84 and covering the unit witha thin cylinder 70 such as a thermally contracting tube.

As shown in FIG. 10, the ring-like support sections 82 and theconnecting rod section 84 may be formed of a single raw material, thusforming a unitary structure.

As shown in FIG. 11, the line support sections 82 of the aboveconfiguration may be formed of rings with a plurality of turns.

As shown in FIG. 12, the ring-like line support sections 82 need notform a closed loop but may form an open loop that opens in theconnecting position of the connecting rod section 84. The connecting rodsection 84 may be configured as follows.

It may be circumferentially located in three positions, as shown in FIG.13 It may be laterally located in two positions, as shown in FIG. 14.

The overall line support 42 may be configured as follows.

As shown in FIG. 16, it may be formed like bellows having raised anddepressed surfaces inside, with the raised surfaces used as line supportsections 82.

As shown in FIG. 17, it may be a cylindrical body with many small holesdrilled on its circumferential surface. The cylindrical body maycomprise punching metal. It may comprise resin fibers laced up as amesh. However, this is not shown in the drawings. Other embodimentstructures are described as follows.

As shown in FIG. 18, the retainer 60 for retaining the line support 42may be located in a plurality of positions including those in the largediameter section and the small diameter section. In this case, such anarrangement can be provided instead of the line support shown as thespiral 62 integrated using the thermally contracting tube 70. Forexample, the line support 42 may comprise the above single spiral.

As shown in FIG. 15, a plurality of small diameter rings and largediameter rings may be alternatively located adjacent to each other onthe same shaft center, and then connected together using the connectingrod section. In this case, the small diameter rings form a line support82, and the large diameter rings form a retainer 60 contacting the innercircumferential surface of the first rod 12. As shown in FIG. 19, tosupport the spiral line support 42 spaced from the inner surface of therod, the line support may be supported by the retainer 60 at the rearend of the rod, while, at the front end of the rod, it may be receivedby a swelled section 86 formed by inwardly swelling part of the innersurface of the rod.

All the above embodiments can be used for rods other than the tip rodsuch as an intermediate rod.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pass-through fishing rod having a shaft centerand an inner surface, said rod having a line support which comprises aplurality of line support sections having a line support pitch, saidline support sections being spaced along said shaft center of said rodfor supporting a fishing line and retained within said rod by aplurality of retainers including a front retainer, a rear retainer and aplurality of intermediate retainers, said retainers having a retentionpitch, wherein said line support pitch of said line support sections issmaller than said retention pitch at which said line support is retainedwithin said rod by said plurality of retainers while spaced from saidinner surface of said rod, and wherein said line support comprises aspiral and a thin cylinder externally fit to the spiral.
 2. Thepass-through fishing rod of claim 1 wherein said thin cylinder is formedof a thermally contracting tube externally fitted to said spiral.
 3. Thepass-through fishing rod of claim 1 wherein said intermediate retainersare formed with a central aperture, said central aperture being formedwith a tapered surface.
 4. The pass-through fishing rod of claim 1wherein said intermediate retainers are formed with at least one axiallyextending protrusion on an outer surface thereof which extends into agroove formed on an inner surface of said rod.
 5. The pass-throughfishing rod of claim 1 wherein said intermediate retainers are formedwith at least one axially extending groove on an outer surface thereofwhich receives a protrusion formed on an inner surface of said rod. 6.The pass-through fishing rod of claim 1 wherein said intermediateretainers are formed with at least one axially extending groove on anouter surface thereof which receives a protrusion formed on an innersurface of said rod and said thin cylinder is formed with at least oneaxially extending groove on an outer surface thereof which receives aprotrusion formed on an inner surface of said rod.